Hold On, Let Go
by INMH
Summary: A deeper look into Tess's mind during Hollow Part 3. Warning: Blood, Serious Injuries, Mild Language, Spoilers for Hollow Part 3.


Hold On, Let Go

**Rating:** PG-13/T

**Genre:** Drama/Angst/Hurt/Comfort/Romance (Implied)

**Summary:** A deeper look into Tess's mind during Hollow Part 3. Warning: Blood, Serious Injuries, Mild Language, Spoilers for Hollow Part 3.

**Author's Note:** AH, the sweet smell of remembering that I'm still signed up for lover100 and have only completed eight prompts. Lit a fire under my ass like nothing else.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Smallville. It belongs to Jerry Siegal, Joe Shuster and the CW.

[-]

_No, no, no, no, no, no, no-_

She didn't need to ask Henshaw if this was real. There was no question about this, that this panic was something real, real and _suffocating_. Though Tess didn't have a body to tense, didn't have lungs for her breath to catch in, didn't have a throat to tighten and a mouth to go dry, the strictly mental anguish from seeing Emil bleeding heavily, collapsed on the floor was enough to prove that she was at least still human enough to feel.

_No, no, no, __**no, **__please, __**please**__ don't die, oh God-_

(_no God, only data_)

Emil was her friend. Clark and Lois and Chloe and Oliver and the others in the League were friends as well (some more than others), but it was Emil who stopped by to see her specifically. It was he that tried to get her to talk more, communicate, tried to stave off the loneliness that was so damn pervasive in her life now.

Tried to convince her that she was still human.

The panic increased tenfold when she couldn't contact emergency services. Emil was bleeding badly, God (_no God, only data_) only knew which organs had been damaged. His time was short, and even if the call did get through, the police would have to deal with the armed intruders before attending to the wounded and by then it would be too late, too damn late-

It was then that the panic began to morph into something else.

Someone- who was likely not present amongst those currently making their way down the hall- was attacking the lab. Someone had sent armed, trigger-happy gunmen in for whatever reason, and shot the man who was arguably her closest friend, possibly (probably) critically, if not fatally.

And now they were preventing her from calling for help.

Though there was no skin to flush red, no nails to dig into her palms, no eyes to sting with tears of fury, Tess knew rage when she felt it.

And boy, did she _feel_ it.

"_Enough_."

It came in a rush, washing over her like a wave, and the panic dissipated completely. Emil needed her, or he would die; Tess would have to act, and right now. Hell, she might even be able to prevent the intruders from getting whatever it was they wanted. But for now, Emil was the priority.

Her mind turned to the room that Emil had vacated not long before the alarm went off.

"Mercer," Henshaw said, and even though his tone was a little difficult to read it was obvious he was concerned. But Tess was already taking action, preparing to slip into the circuitry of one of the robots the scientists had been working on. "whatever emotions are, we still have to keep them-"

She didn't hear the rest.

Acclimation to the robot took a matter of seconds, the data that she now consisted of melding with its programming easily. She had limbs again, though sensation remained virtually non-existent. It became her weapon to wield, something that put her in the midst of the action again, rather than watching from a distance, manipulating details from afar and hoping it was enough.

The doors opened easily enough under Tess's manipulations, and upon stepping into the hall, she found that Emil hadn't moved from where he had fallen: He was still leaning against the wall, blood dripping from his back where the bullet had exited.

His head was hanging, hands shaking as they covered the wound, but he looked up when the doors opened. Worryingly, Emil didn't quite react- he just blinked uncertainly, like he wasn't entirely certain what he was seeing. While it could just be surprise, it wasn't encouraging to see, and something in Tess's heart (_data_) hurt.

"Hold on, Emil." She said. Tess considered smiling, but knew he couldn't see it (and honestly, she didn't feel particularly smiley at the moment). "This won't take long."

She looked down the hallway, zooming in on the backs of the retreating invaders. They hadn't noticed her yet, the alarms still loud enough to cover the sound of the doors opening.

Tess was about to take months of pent-up frustration out on their sorry hides.

-End

In other news, I am a sobbing mess on the floor and will not be okay until I know that Emil is.

_Beat their asses, Tess_.


End file.
